A peek into the fishing tackle and ice shops that support Kesennuma [Internship article]

My name is Sugimura and I am interning in Kesennuma for one month. I am originally from Shizuoka prefecture and am currently attending a university in Miyazaki prefecture. I decided to intern in Kesennuma because I wanted to experience and learn various things in a place I have never been to before.

Let me get straight into it and introduce you to "A Peek at Kesennuma's Work and Play Spaces," which was born out of the passion of the people of Kesennuma.

1. What is Choinozoki?

The Kesennuma Work and Play Area Peek (hereafter referred to as "Peek") is a program that allows you to experience the lifestyle and charm of Kesennuma through tours and experiences of workplaces that are normally off-limits. The concept is to take a peek at the work and culture that is unique to Kesennuma.

The program includes many programs related to the fishing industry, such as ice shops, box shops, fishing tackle shops, and fishing, as well as soba noodle making experiences and tours of sake breweries. In the summer, there is also a project called "Summer Vacation Homework Strategy" that is perfect for a topic for independent research. We asked the fishing tackle shops and ice shops that are participating in the program about their thoughts on the program.

A quick look at Kesennuma's work and play areas

2. Fishing gear store – Asaya Co., Ltd.

Asaya Co., Ltd. is a company that sells fishing equipment, and many fishing supplies are stored in a large warehouse inside the company. The program was organized with the hope of conveying the appeal of fishing through a peek into a fishing tackle shop. Asaya handles an astounding 3 pieces of fishing equipment! We will introduce one of them.

Can you guess what this tool is? I had no idea what such a long rope was used for. When I talked to Issei Hirono of Asaya, he told me that it is an essential tool for tuna fishing.

Tuna fishing uses a method called longline fishing, and this is the branch line part of that fishing gear. It's hard to understand just from the words, right? I've prepared an illustration, so please take a look at it.

The red circle in the illustration is the branch line. The branch line alone is about 30m long. Furthermore, this branch line is only one part of the setup. The black circle in the illustration is the main line, and there are about 1 branch lines hanging from it.

It's so grandiose that it's starting to make sense. So how long is this whole contraption?

It's a whopping 150km long! It's roughly the distance from Tokyo Station to Shizuoka Station.

At first, I thought that the tuna fishing equipment would be about 300m long. But it was 150km long! 500 times longer than I imagined, it was already laughable.

Because the fishing gear is so large, longline fishing takes time. The work of throwing the gear into the sea takes about six hours, and the work of retrieving the gear takes a whopping nine hours. Tuna fishermen do this hard work every day.

Asaya's job is to support these fishermen. He improves fishing gear to meet the fishermen's requests and sometimes even makes custom-made gear. The photo below shows the hook at the end of the branch line, which was introduced earlier.

Do you see the red part at the base of this hook? It's only a few centimeters long, part of a branch line, out of the 150km of longline equipment, but there is a reason for this. If you're curious about its meaning and reason, please take a peek and find out.

Asaya has a lot of fishing equipment like this, and you can learn and experience a variety of things. It will be a unique experience to touch the tools actually used in Kesennuma's fishing industry and then eat seafood caught in Kesennuma.

Asaya Co., Ltd.

3. Ice Shop ~Okamoto Ice and Refrigeration Factory Co., Ltd.~

Next is Okamoto Ice Factory Co., Ltd., commonly known as Okamoto Ice. Okamoto Ice is an ice shop that supports Kesennuma's fishing industry, but it's not just an ice shop. They are taking on various new challenges, such as operating a tourist facility called the Ice Aquarium.

When you enter the ice aquarium, you will see many fish trapped inside the ice that look as if they might swim out at any moment, making you feel as if you are in a school of fish. This raises questions, such as "How is this made?" and "Are they flash frozen?"

So, I visited the factory to talk to Takayuki Okamoto of Okamoto Seiko to find out how they actually make ice. The picture below shows the cubes of ice they use in their regular business to keep fish cold. Apparently it takes a long time, about 48 hours, to make these.

However, this method makes some parts of the ice cloudy and does not produce the transparent ice found in ice aquariums. Therefore, they take a longer time of 4 days (96 hours!) to remove impurities and freeze the ice, creating the type of ice used in ice tanks. (This is far from flash freezing...)

The ice tanks made in this way are incredibly transparent, and even the fine details of the fish can be seen clearly. It's said to be a very delicate and difficult process, and you can really see the high level of skill at Okamoto Ice Maker.

I was overwhelmed to hear Okamoto's thoughts that ice is not just for cooling, that he wants many people to know the potential of ice, and that he wants to enliven Kesennuma through the ice aquarium. It's so cool that he pursues the potential of ice, not just for his own company. The ice aquarium is frigid at minus 20 degrees Celsius, but Okamoto's thoughts are incredibly passionate!

You can see how ice is actually made by taking a peek. I'm sure you'll be overwhelmed by the passion of the ice makers, just like me. Be sure to take a peek and visit the ice aquarium.

Okamoto Ice Factory Co., Ltd.

Kesennuma Sea Market Ice Aquarium